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Below is a submission for a "Rant" flash fiction short story concerning Mike Sando and ESPN Power Rankings. I will be revising it later to make it better for a grade, but thought it was rather current with the Rams this week. I never knew that a rant could also be considered a short story form until yesterday. So all of us have been short story writers without knowing it! One of the parts of a story is to be emotionally off kilter with a flaw of reasoning at the end in most cases. A novel that used this form was the controversial classic "Tropic of Cancer" by Henry Miller.....Hope you like it.
I know you Mike Sando! (Rant Form)
I saw what you did.
You and the rest of those NFL Power Ranking contributors at ESPN just keep pushing down my Los Angeles Rams behind division rival Seattle Seahawks! The latest slight is ranking the Rams behind the Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys at number five on the list this week. The Rams have the highest scoring offense and just shut out another divisional rival Arizona Cardinals 33-0, revealing an improved defense as well. Even though the Rams beat themselves in a loss to the Seahawks earlier this year with five turnovers, they STILL were one dropped pass in the end zone away from winning the game in the final moments. The Rams have played one game more than the Hawks and currently lead the division because they won that extra game, but the brain-trust at ESPN ranks the Rams lower by one spot because of “who they lost to”? Really ESPN? You mean like the Dallas Cowboys who are ranked above both the Rams AND the Seahawks and who have won fewer games than both NFC West teams AND who have lost to the Rams earlier in the season are considered better?
How about a little consistency when you are wrapping the Rams helically around an axis!*
Earlier in the season the Rams beat the 49ers on a Thursday Night in the most entertaining, high scoring game in TNF history, and Sando’s conspirators came up with new criteria in the rankings according to defense. How much did a dramatic win by the Rams move them up the Power Rankings? Zero, zilch, nada! Yes, this new formula was created to keep teams like the Rams down because they didn’t believe in them and had trouble ranking them in the basement due to having one of the best records in the NFL!
But they never HAVE believed in the Rams! Why? Because former Seattle Seahawk team reporter Mike Sando has always disliked my team. Always! The recently departed senior columnist and ESPN commentator John Clayton and Mike Sando currently live in Seattle metro area and are in-the-closet Hawk homers! As to the “who have they beaten” criteria used in the latest round this year, it was never mentioned when my team SWEPT the Seahawks a couple of years ago. Yes, the Rams had horrible record that year, but on a weekly basis that was not yet known when ranking the Hawks above the Rams.
Sando and others keep looking at past failures to judge the present team, which is a fallacy! Even with individuals, the past doesn’t necessarily predict the future except maybe under very specific conditions. A team is multifaceted, and the parts change every year. Due to the many moving parts and the difficulty in winning in the NFL, haters like Sando can always be negative with a struggling team. They are often right because they can make blanket-statements as to whether a team is good or not, without any context. . A struggling team must overcome previous flaws, institute player upgrades, and hire a great coaching staff for a fan to win the argument against those like “The Great Sando” as to whether a team is good. The Rams turned over twenty percent of its roster and the whole coaching staff after last season and improved in several key areas. But no, Sando and the haters in sports journalism felt it was too much change in a year for a good team to emerge. The Rams started in Week One at the very bottom of the rankings, and have clawed their way to be in the top five of the NFL.
Now you see why I hate him and the rest at ESPN!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Big Bang Theory
I know you Mike Sando! (Rant Form)
I saw what you did.
You and the rest of those NFL Power Ranking contributors at ESPN just keep pushing down my Los Angeles Rams behind division rival Seattle Seahawks! The latest slight is ranking the Rams behind the Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys at number five on the list this week. The Rams have the highest scoring offense and just shut out another divisional rival Arizona Cardinals 33-0, revealing an improved defense as well. Even though the Rams beat themselves in a loss to the Seahawks earlier this year with five turnovers, they STILL were one dropped pass in the end zone away from winning the game in the final moments. The Rams have played one game more than the Hawks and currently lead the division because they won that extra game, but the brain-trust at ESPN ranks the Rams lower by one spot because of “who they lost to”? Really ESPN? You mean like the Dallas Cowboys who are ranked above both the Rams AND the Seahawks and who have won fewer games than both NFC West teams AND who have lost to the Rams earlier in the season are considered better?
How about a little consistency when you are wrapping the Rams helically around an axis!*
Earlier in the season the Rams beat the 49ers on a Thursday Night in the most entertaining, high scoring game in TNF history, and Sando’s conspirators came up with new criteria in the rankings according to defense. How much did a dramatic win by the Rams move them up the Power Rankings? Zero, zilch, nada! Yes, this new formula was created to keep teams like the Rams down because they didn’t believe in them and had trouble ranking them in the basement due to having one of the best records in the NFL!
But they never HAVE believed in the Rams! Why? Because former Seattle Seahawk team reporter Mike Sando has always disliked my team. Always! The recently departed senior columnist and ESPN commentator John Clayton and Mike Sando currently live in Seattle metro area and are in-the-closet Hawk homers! As to the “who have they beaten” criteria used in the latest round this year, it was never mentioned when my team SWEPT the Seahawks a couple of years ago. Yes, the Rams had horrible record that year, but on a weekly basis that was not yet known when ranking the Hawks above the Rams.
Sando and others keep looking at past failures to judge the present team, which is a fallacy! Even with individuals, the past doesn’t necessarily predict the future except maybe under very specific conditions. A team is multifaceted, and the parts change every year. Due to the many moving parts and the difficulty in winning in the NFL, haters like Sando can always be negative with a struggling team. They are often right because they can make blanket-statements as to whether a team is good or not, without any context. . A struggling team must overcome previous flaws, institute player upgrades, and hire a great coaching staff for a fan to win the argument against those like “The Great Sando” as to whether a team is good. The Rams turned over twenty percent of its roster and the whole coaching staff after last season and improved in several key areas. But no, Sando and the haters in sports journalism felt it was too much change in a year for a good team to emerge. The Rams started in Week One at the very bottom of the rankings, and have clawed their way to be in the top five of the NFL.
Now you see why I hate him and the rest at ESPN!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Big Bang Theory
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